John Bachtler is Professor of European Policy Studies and a Director of EPRC at the University of Strathclyde. He has a BA (Hons) in Geography from the University of Wales and undertook postgraduate research at the University of Birmingham. His research experience is principally on regional and industrial development in Europe, encompassing the regional policies of the EU28 Member States and Candidate Countries, the structural and cohesion policies of the European Union and EU enlargement.
He has led EPRC research on regional policy as well as the evaluation of Structural Fund programmes, EU regional development strategies and the implementation of the Funds. Recent work focuses on administrative capacity and the implementation of EU Cohesion policy. He has published books, chapters, articles and research papers on regional economic development and regional policy as well as on policies for the service sector, multinational location factors, and inward investment policies in Europe and European economic integration.
He is a director of two EPRC research and knowledge exchange programmes: IQ-Net (Improving the Quality of Structural Funds Programme Management), which involves comparative study of the management and implementation of Structural Funds programmes in 15 Member States; and EoRPA (European Regional Policy Research Consortium), which involves comparative research on the regional policies of 30 European countries.
He has been an expert adviser to numerous government departments across Western, Central and Eastern Europe, and an adviser to international organisations (European Parliament, European Commission, Committee of the Regions, Nordic Council of Ministers, OECD). He is an Academician of the UK Academy of Social Sciences, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and Vice Chair and Fellow of the Regional Studies Association.
